There are two things Wayne Reorda is passionate about — golf and Colorado.

“I was born and raised in Colorado Springs,” he said. “I love Colorado and just couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

One of four children, both of Reorda’s parents worked. “My mom was an accountant, and my dad ran several business and was in the bread business for a while,” he said. The senior Reorda managed the Wonder Bread warehouse in the Springs.

Reorda went to Wilson Elementary School and Irvin Middle School, graduating from Mitchell High School in 1986. After high school, he moved to Boulder, Colorado, and worked in retail.

After a few years, Reorda relocated to Chandler, Arizona, where he got his start in the golf business. “One of my brothers was down there, and he’s a golf pro,” he said. “I stayed with him and got in the golf business.” Reorda attended the Professional Golf Association of America school in Phoenix to become a professional golfer. The school curriculum included business management and customer service; and, to complete the program, students must pass a player’s ability test.

In 1993, while at the golf school, Reorda worked at the Ocotillo Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. He started in the golf business at the bottom. “I was cleaning golf carts, cleaning golf clubs,picking driving ranges,” he said. “You name it.” After three years, Reorda was promoted from outside service to assistant golf professional. His duties included running tee sheets, answering phones, checking in golfers and teaching a few golf lessons. Reorda said, although the job was considered a promotion, he made less money. “I took a major pay decrease to go to the golf shop,” he said. “Down in Arizona you make some good money in tips.” Shortly after his promotion, the Ocotillo golf course added a multi-million-dollar clubhouse, and Reorda helped with the move from the old clubhouse to the new one.

After being promoted to first assistant golf pro, Reorda met his wife, Elizabeth, an event coordinator for the Ocotillo Golf Club. “When she started working there, I gave her a golf lesson,” he said. “We started dating after that.” The couple married May 19, 2001. That same year, Reorda left his job at the club and began working for Pro-Shopkeeper, a company that installed point-of-sale systems at various golf clubs around the country.

In 2003, Reorda and his wife had their first son, Palmer. Two months after he was born, the family moved to Loveland, Colo. “We just liked the area, and my folks lived in Colorado Springs,” he said. “I don’t think we spent one weekend in that house in Loveland. We were down here every weekend visiting grandparents.”

While living in Loveland, Reorda started his own carpet cleaning business called Clean Right. “In Arizona, you don’t get a lot of breaks,” he said. “It was just time to try different things.” In 2004, Reorda moved his family and his carpet cleaning business to Colorado Springs. Shortly after their move, Reorda’s wife discovered that a new golf course would be opening in Meridian Ranch in Falcon. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Reorda found it hard to picture a golf course on the eastern prairie. “There’s nothing but farmland, but we were pleasantly surprised,” he said.

In 2004, the family moved from Colorado Springs to the Falcon Hills development in Falcon. About six months after the Antler Creek Clubhouse opened; Reorda began playing golf there and eventually became a member. “It’s a phenomenal golf course and it is just fun,” he said. “I wanted to play more golf so that worked out.”

Reorda and his wife had a second son, Logan, in 2007. Toward the end of that same year, Reorda sold his carpet cleaning business and began to get more involved in the golf business again. “The general manager knew I had been in the golf business before and asked me to help out a little bit,” he said. “The next thing I know, I’m here.” In 2008, Reorda became the head golf professional; and, within two years, he took over as Antler Creek’s general manager.

Things were great, until his oldest son was diagnosed with leukemia.“I mention that just because how wonderful this place is and how this community all came together,” Reorda said. “They have been a huge support to me and my family. It means an incredible amount to us.” After a difficult three years, he said his son is doing much better and will finish his treatments in July. The family hopes to celebrate his son’s progress when they move into their new home in Meridian Ranch, scheduled for completion next month.

With summer in full swing, Reorda said Antler Creek is continually working to improve and maintain the golf course. “There are a lot of changes,” he said. “We are getting more homes and more players, so we are always making changes and trying to make it better.” He said Colorado’s weather conditions can be hard on the course. “The biggest challenge is winter, and the winds we get here do a number on our golf course,” he said. Colorado’s weather forces Antler Creek to “grow in” the course every year, Reorda said. “Most golf courses: a couple little things here and there, and they are up and going.” Maintenance of the course is a “big project” because of the size of the course, he said. “We are the longest golf course, by yardage, in Colorado … the third longest course in the country.”

Reorda said most people are surprised Antler Creek is a public course. He said some golfers who want to try a course outside of Colorado Springs are often misled about the travel time to Falcon. “When we run specials in the Colorado Springs area, people show up an hour-and-a-half before their tee time thinking it would take them 45 minutes to get out here.”

As to growth in Falcon, Reorda said, “I love the community and I don’t mind the growth at all.” He said he likes the way developers are phasing in the housing; plus, he said there are plenty of open spaces.

When he is not golfing, he enjoys the outdoors and fly fishing or hanging out with his family. “The golf business is my passion and my love,” he said. “I will be somewhere in the golf business, if not here, but hopefully here for quite a while.”